Operating-lever lock for voting-machines.



0. 0. ABBOTT. OPERATING LEVER LOOK FOR VOTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 6, 1912.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

Z SHEETS-SHEET l.

' ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

0. G. ABBOTT. OPERATING LEVER LOGK FOR VOTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 6, 1912. Lmww 4 Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

2 SHBETB-SHBBT 2.

' ATTORNE CHARLES C. ABBOTT, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 TRIUMPH VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSAGHUSETTS, A GOREORA- 'IION OF NEW JERSEY.

OPERATING-LEVER LOCK FOR VOTING-MACHINES.

To all whom e't may concern Be it known that I, CHAR ES C. ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Operating-Lever Looks for Voting- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a lock for the main operating or entrance and exit lever of a voting machine that will actdirectly on the main operating bar and prevent reverse movement of the operating lever and bar until after the com pletion' of a forward movement in either direction; that is, having commenced to move the operating lever from either the voting or non-vot1ng position, backward movement of said lever. and consequently reverse movement of the main operating bar is rendered impossible until after the com- 'pletion of the forward movement that has been commenced.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my novel operating lever lock; Fig. 2 an enlarged plan view corresponding'therewith; Fig. 3 an elevation corresponding with Fig. 2, partlyin section on the line 3-8 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 an elevation corresponding with Fig. 3, certain parts being removed and the camshaft being in section on the line 4% in Fig. 2; and Fig.

5 is a detail view of an operating rope which permits the attendant to operate the look while. standing at a'distance from the machine.

10 denotes the casing of the machine, 11 the main operating bar, 12 theoperating lever, frequently termed the entrance and exit lever, and 13 a shaft to which the oper-:

ating lever is rigidly secured. Shaft 13 is mounted to oscillate in a casting 14 within the casing and extends through the front of the casing to receive the operating lever as clearly shown in Fig.1, Any suitable operating connectionmay be employed between the operatinglever shaft and the main operating bar.' In the present instance I have shown'the connection as effected by means s'o'f a link-15, one end of which is pivoted to a plate 16, itself rigidly secured to the Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed m e, 912. seriai'no. 708,014.

Patented Apr. 22,1913.

. bar, and the other to an arm 17, appearing in dottedline's only, which extends from the. operating lever shaft. Various mechanisms of the machine are operated from the main bar as, for example, counter carrier operating shafts 18 which carry pinioiis 19 engag- 111g rack sections 20 on the main bar.

21 denotes a rack or section of rack teeth formed upon or rigidly secured to the top of the main bar. This rack is engaged by pawls 22 and 23 mounted on a stud 24 which passes through lugs 25 .formin pawls are spaced apart on the Stud 1) a ing against the under side of the pawls. The stud is retained in place in an suitable manner as by a cotter pm. It wil be notedthat the teeth of rack 21 have vertical walls 27 and that the heads of the p'awl's are laid out to engage the opposite walls of said tooth and permits movement of the rack and bar toward the right.

At the rear ends of pawls 22 and 23 are inclines indicated respectively-by 32 and33. Incline 32 is engaged by a cam 34 and incline 33 engaged by a cam 35. i These cams are carried by a shaft 36 "which is mounted to oscillate in a hub which forms part of casting 14. This shaft also carries a disk 37, having a locking projection 38 adapted to engageeither' of two recesses in the opera-tingbar indicated a portion of casting 14, the main bar lying in a re- .cess in the casting between the lugs. The

collar 26 which also acts to hold the main bar down and prevent the rack from bearrespectively by 89 and 40, and outside the casing said shaft is provided with a cross bar 46, the be explains purpose of which will presently Cams 34 and 35 as shown are simply disks with flat sides forming the low'portions of 15 with the rack. portion of the other cam will commence to the cams. In Fig. 4, the low portion of cam 35 is shown in engagement with the incline 33 of pawl 23, which, as the operative end.

.of the pawl is heaviest, permits that end of 5 the pawl to drop down into engagement with the rack. The cams work opposite to each other so that. as one pawl drops down the other is raised, pawl 22 being shown in Fig. 4 as raised by theother cam.- From the ositionshown the movement of cam 35 wi 1 be from left to right. The instant this movement commences the high portion of the cam will begin to engage incline 33 and pawl 23 will commence to rise out of engagement- Simultaneously the high pass out of engagement with the rear incline of the other pawl, which will drop down into the locking position as the first mentioned pawl rises out of the locking position. In order to retain the cams in their two efi'ect-ive positions, that is with the high. portion of one cam and the low portion of the other cam in engagement with an mchne of a 25 pawl and vice versa, I provide shaft 36 withrecesses or. spots 41, either of which is adapted to beacnga' ed by the nose of a plunger 42 so'ckete in. casting 14. The plunger is retained in operative position by 0 the pressure of a spring 43 in the socket, the

other end of which bears against an adj ustingscrew 44. In order to prevent the possibility of the shaft being turned too far in either direction, I provide a stop pin 45 5 in the casing which is adapted to be engaged by either arm of the cross bar and serves as a positive stop to limit the movement of the shaft, cams and "locking projection in either direction.

The function of lockingprojection 38 is to render it impossible for the attendant to operate cam shaft 36 except when llhQOpQIi. ating bar is at one of the extremes of its. movement, that is-either in the voting or the non-voting position. In Fig. 4, the locking projection is shown as having passed out from recess 40 toward the right. At the other extreme of its movement the shaft would have made something more'than a quarterturn and the projection would have passed out of the recess toward the left.

- [When either recess is in alinement with the cam shaft, the attendant can manipulate the pawls freely by means of said shaft. At any .55 other position of the operating bar, an attem t to operate the cam shaft would cause the locking projection to engage the top of the operating bar intermediate the recesses and thereby lock the shaft against move 0 ment, leaving one pawl locked out of opera- I tive'position and the other free to operate.

-n the drawings, the operating bar is at the extreme of its movementtoward the left. Suppose now that the operating lever is 5 swung upward from the position shown in pass under the pawl and after each tooth'h'as passed the pawl will drop down between two teeth and the en agement of wall 30 on the pawl with the left vertical wall of the tooth just passed will lock the bar against backward movement. It will be understood that pawl 22 still remains locked out of operative position through the engagement of the high Dortion of the corresponding cam with the incline atthe rear end of the pawl. The m'ovcment of the operating bar toward the right will carrv recess 40 far enough toward the right so that any attempt to manipulate the cam shaft will cause the locking projeetio'n to engage the top of the bar between the recesses. It will be understood of course that any appreciable movement of the shaft in the opposite direction will be prevented. bv the engagement of the cross bar with the stop pin. The condition is therefore as follows: By further upward movement of the operating lever-the operating bar can be moved farther toward the right. Reverse movement of the operating bar, however, isprevented by the engagement of the vertical wall of pawl 23 with the left vertical '5 wall of one of the moth teeth. Theother pawl is locked out of operative position by the high portion'of the corresponding cam I and the cam shaft is locked against movement to throwpawl .23 out of operative position by the engagement of the locking projection carried by the cam shaft; with the operating bar itself, so that having com menced a movement of the operating bar in either direction reverse movement is made impossible until the movement that has been commenced is completed.

In order to provide a convenient means whereby the attendant can manipulate the cam shaftvwhile standing at a.-distance from the machine I provide the cross bar with eyes 47 through which a rope 48 asses, the ends of said rope bein secure together. One strand of the rope rigidly secured" thereto rings 49 throu h which the other 1 strand slides freely, t' the ends of the, strands opposite the cross bar is-a'handle '50. This enables, the attendant to stand at any required distance from the machine, four feet or more, and to manipulate; the cam o shaft with ease. I I

It will of course be understood that in voting machines having an'operating or entrance and exit. lever, said lever isfirst operated by the voter to unlock the machine; that is to place it in condition so that the voter may indicate his vote, and when the voter leaves the machine he must again 0perate sald lever in order to count the vote that he has previously indicated and also position to cooperate with one arm of the cross bar. The normal or non-voting po-- sition of the operating lever is substantially vertical. The operating bar is at the extreme of its position toward the right, pawl 28 is lockgd out of operative position and pawl 22 is in operative position, 'just the reverse of the position shown in the draw ing.

On the approach of a, voter the attendant, if he has not already done so, turns the cross bar to the reverse of the position shown in Fig. 1; that is, he turns the upper arm of the cross bar from Out to In. The effect of this oscillation of the cam shaft willbe to raise pawl 23, which opposes the movement of the operating bar toward the left, out of engagement with the rack and to permit pawl 22, whichopposes the movement of the bar toward the right, to drop down into engagement with the rack. The voter can now swing the operating lever to approximately lie horizontal position as shown 'in Fig. 1 Should he attempt to reverse the lever after having started to swing it downward, the movement will be prevented by the engagement of pawl 22 with the rack. At the completion of the downward movement of the lever the voter can indicate his vote. The attendant may now swing thecros, m from In to Out, as shown in Fig. 1. This will leave the parts in the. position shown in the drawings.

Pawl 22 is now raised out of operative position and pawl 23 has dropped down into position to prevent movement of the operating bar toward the left after the movement toward the right has commenced. After indicating his vote the voter registers it by swinging the operating lever from the position shown to its normal or approximately vertical position. In addition. to registering the vote indicated, the return of the operating lever to its normal acts to lock the machine. Thevotc indicating and registering mechanism is not shown as it forms no portion of the present invention and is merely referred to in order to make clear the functions and operation of the lever locking mechanism. The voter cannot reverse the movement of the lever after having started to swing it upward, because of the engagement of pawl 23 with the rack. The attendant cannot change the position of the pawls, owing to the engagement of the locking projection on th cam shaft with the operating bar, except when the operating lever and operating bar are.

at one of the extremes of their movement;

that is, when the parts are in the voting position, as shown in the drawings, or in position the normal b1 non-voting position. The operation of the cross bar by the attendanthas simply the effect of unlocking the op erating bar and operating lever and permitting the lever to be swung downward from its normal or non-voting position, or swung upward from the voting position shown in the drawing. 4 Should the Voter fail to complete the return movement of the operating lever, he does not lose his vote and no harm can be done, as the attendant must complete the movement and swing the operating lever clear to the non-voting position before he can swing it to the voting position again to permit another voter to indicate and register his vote. It is thus made impossible for a careless voter to ric prive himself of his vote, or for a dishonest o'llicial to deprive him of it by juggling with the operating lever.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. in a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar, an operating lever and intermediate connections for the purpose set forth, of reversible mcanslor locking the bar against backward movement after forward movement in either direction has commenced, and means for locking said last named means against reversal.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar, an operating lever and intermediate connections for the purpose set forth, of reversible means for locking the bar against backward movement after fmfward move ment in. either direction has commenced, means for reversing said locking means and manually operated means for actuatin said reversing moans.

In a mechanism of the character de-.

reversible means for locking the bar against Y backward movement after forward movement" in either direction has commenced, and means cotiperatlng with said bar for locking said'last named means against -reversal.

5. In a mechanism of the character described, the combinationwith an operating bar, an operating lever and intermediate connections for the purpose set forth, of reversible means for locking the .bar against 80 I shaft excerit when the bar is at the end of its backward movement after forward movement in either direction has commenced, and

- last named means except when the bar is at either extreme of itsmovement.

7. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with-an operatin bar having a rack, an operating lever an connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls lying adjacent to each other enga ing said rack and locking it-against bactward movement after forward movement in either direction has commenced, a shaft having cams adapted to engage the pawls for the purpose set forth, and means cotiperats ingwith the bar to prevent rotation of the travel in either direction. ,8. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar, an operating lever and intermediate 1 connections forthe purpose set forth, of reversible means for locking the bar against Ubackward movement after forward movement in either direction has commenced, a shaft having meansfor reversing the looking means when the bar has reached the end of its travel in either direction, andmanually operated means for turning said shaft.

9 In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with {an operating bar, an operating lever and lintermediate connections for the urpose setj forth, of reversible means for ocking th ba'r against lmclnvard movement after fo ward movement in either direction has commenced and an inde endently operated shaft having means at app-ed to reverse the 'lockin means when, the ar has reached the en of its travel in either direction and means-for locking the shaft agai st movem ent except at the completion of t he inovement of the' operating bar.

10. In' a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating .algainst backward movement 'aftenforwgrd' l of operative position and means for preventing shifting of pawls except when the bar is at either extreme of its movement.

11. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar having recesses and a rack, an operating lever and connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack and locking against backward movement after forward movement in either direction has commenced, and a shaft having cams adapted to engage the pawls. for the purpose set forth and a locking projection engagin the bar and actin to prevent rotation of the shaft except.w en a recess .in' the bar is in alinement with the locking projection.

12. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar having recesses and a rack, an operating lever and connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack for the purpose set forth, and a shaft having cams adapted toengage saidpawls whereby either. pawl may be locked out of operative position leaving the other pawl operative, and a locking projection engaging thebar whereby rotation of the shaft and consequent shifting of the pawls is prevented except when a recess in the bar is in alinement with the projection. I

13. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar having recesses and a rack, an operating lever and connections intermediate said .bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack for the purpose set forth, and a shaft having cams and a locking projection, rotation of the shaft causing. the cams to lock either pawl out'of operative position leaving the other operative, and the projection engaging the bar and locking the shaft against rotation except when a recess in the bar is in alinement with the projection.

14. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar having recesses and a rack, an operating lever and connectionsintermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack for the purpose set forth, a shaft having cams for controlling the pawls and a locking projection whereby the shaft is locked against rotation except when a recess is in alinement I with the projection and means for limiting the movement of the shaft in either direo s' '12'0 d; f scribed, the combination with an operating tion.

15. In a mechanism of the character bar having re'cessesand a rack, an operating" levera ind connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging saidtrack for the purpose set forth, and a shaft having cams for controlling the pawls, a locking projection adapted to coiiperate with arecess tp enta in either direction has come.

nTcm-cd means fdr locliing either pawl ou and a cross bar by which the shaft isoperated to control the pawls. I

16. In a mechanism of the character de scribed, the combination With an operating bar, an operating lever, and intermediate connections for the purpose set forth, of

reversible means for locking the bar against backward movement after forward movebar having a rack, an operating lever, and

connections intermediate said bar-and lever,

of pawls engaging said rack, a shaft having cams for controlling the paWls, and a cross bar carried by said shaft for operating the same. i I

19. In a mechanism of the character de: scribed, the combination with an operating bar having a rack, an operating lever, and connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack, a shaft having cams for controlling the pawls, a cross bar carried by said shaft for operating the same, and a pin engaged by said cross bar to limit the movement ofthe shaft in either direction.

20. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating bar having a rack, an operating lever, and connections intermediate said bar and lever, of pawls engaging said rack, a shaft having cams for controlling the pawls, a cross bar carried by said shaft, and a rope secured to said cross bar for operating the same to turn said shaft,

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES C. ABBOTT. Witnesses:

Frances R. Downs, Lnsrnn Snnrannson. 

